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Residents urge caution at public hearing on rezoning, citing farm, traffic and groundwater concerns
Summary
At a public hearing on zoning and annexation for a proposed BIES site, multiple residents described likely construction impacts on farms, traffic detours, groundwater and light/pollution concerns and requested more engineering and site detail; council proceeded with annexation and rezoning votes and staff said BIES will seek conditional use review.
Mayor Perry called a public hearing on the rezoning and annexation for a potential BIES site and invited public comment. Several residents who live adjacent to the proposed site told council they oppose the change or want more information about traffic, access and environmental impacts.
Nick Stelman (1566 Lucas Road) told council he and neighbors had gathered a petition of about 1,800 signatures and described operational impacts to nearby farms if state route access is restricted during construction, saying the detour would increase certain trips from 3.7 miles to roughly 5.8 miles and could raise fuel and labor costs during time‑sensitive planting and harvesting windows. Stelman warned of possible groundwater contamination, light and air pollution during construction, and said: "This threatens the sustainability of our farming operation."
Gwendelyn Stettleman (1360 Royal Oak Drive) said residents felt the city was giving "all these extravagances to BIES" while forgetting current taxpayers; she urged the city to avoid taking property by eminent domain and to be a "good neighbor" to property owners facing access changes. Laura Morris (1577 Lucas Road) said the project would disrupt the neighborhood's "oasis of peace and quiet" and urged preservation of the community's character. Rick Christrist (1588 Lucas Road) requested more detailed engineering, foundation and access plans, and flagged concerns about roundabouts, stormwater and soil suitability.
Mayor Perry responded with process details: the zoning and annexation votes were on the council docket that night, BIES will appear before the planning commission for a conditional use permit where more site detail will be shared, and the developer will also return to council to discuss a development agreement (she noted a planned June 2 appearance). Perry encouraged residents to contact her for answers and said the developer must meet state requirements on fuel‑tanks and other technical standards.
The public hearing was adjourned at approximately 7:07 p.m. Council later considered and recorded votes on the annexation (bill 26‑096) and rezoning (26‑097) in the legislative session; both measures moved forward in the meeting and the transcript records those votes as passing "8 to zero."
